How can I possibly write something
about this movie? It has overwhelmed me
since the first time I saw it.

I was almost afraid to watch
it this time, having read the play again, written an analysis and watched six
other film versions, two of which I hadn’t seen previously, several of which
are extremely good.

Would this hold up in
comparison, in repetition, in analysis?

Yes.

I see the flaws, I see the
things I would do differently. Branagh shows scenes that Shakespeare didn’t
include on stage but only through the actors’ telling. This does not add depth. Gertrude wouldn’t have worn a white bridal
dress. She was a widow for heaven’s sake. Compared to the beautifully
minimalist sets of Brook and Kline this production seems gaudy at times. And although Kate Winslet is good as Ophelia
she isn’t as convincing as Helena Bonham-Carter or Diane Venora.

But, oh, everything else.
Julie Christie, though there is still more she could have done with the
interpretation, is superb as Gertrude. Derek Jacobi is the best Claudius I’ve
seen. Michael Maloney and Nicholas
Farrell bring more life to Laertes and Horation than any other actors.

And Hamlet? Kenneth Branagh doesn’t play Hamlet. He is Hamlet. He isn’t speaking lines. He’s speaking from
the heart. Every word. As Branagh says
in his intro to the DVD, Hamlet is playing him.
His scene with Ophelia after the To Be or Not To Be soliloquy is
possibly the most powerful performance in film history. It is utterly deeply
real.

“Natural” is the key word
for the whole production. The entire cast makes Shakespeare sound like the way
we all talk every day.

I’m not going to go on and
on but here are a few more things I like about it: the snow, the four-hour
length, the ghost’s incredible blue eyes, gorgeous mean Fortinbras (Rufus
Sewell), the little train, the third word in “Words, words, words.”

10 * out of 10 aren’t enough
so what can I give this? 100* of 100? No, I gave that to Henry V. How
much better is this? Impossible. This is
simply in a class of its own. I can’t be
rational about it. I’m addicted to it. So let’s just say